Lectionary blog for Sept. 3
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 15:15-21; Psalm 26:1-8;
Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
I was listening to the comedian George Carlin one night on HBO. He was talking about how the expression “self-help” is an oxymoron. “Look it up,” he said, “if you did it yourself, you didn’t need any help! Pay attention to the logic of the language people!”
Along the same lines, I was thinking about the concept of self-service! Isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron as well? I mean, if you do it for yourself, is it really “self-service?” It would appear to me that the concept of service should involve me doing something for somebody else, not “me” doing something for “me.”
Self-help and self-service are very much the modern, American way.
“What’s in it for me?”
“How do I benefit?”
“Where’s my payoff?”
All too often, these are the questions that run through our minds as we consider a request for a commitment of our time, talent or treasure. We think to ourselves, “If I do this, is it going to be worth my time, my effort, my involvement. Or would I be better off doing something else?”
Our Gospel lesson today presents an interesting counter-balance to this way of thinking. Here, Jesus very clearly defines here what his commitment to the kingdom of God is all about, what he expects to happen to him because he has been faithful to his calling from God:
“From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21). I doubt that Peter even heard the part about rising again. All Peter heard was the pain, suffering and rejection. And he couldn’t take it. “Wait a minute,” he thought, “this isn’t what I signed up for. I want to be a part of the bold, strong, conquering, triumphant kingdom of God. I want to have a better life, and more joy, and a happier marriage. What’s all this gloom and doom about?”
Jesus rebuked Peter. Called him Satan. Told him to stop thinking about himself and his personal financial future and to start thinking about God. Put another way, Jesus wanted Peter to quit worrying about self-help, and self-improvement and self-service. He wanted his disciples, his devotees, his followers to center their lives on God and the service of others: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”
Often, we tend to be like Peter; we want to follow Jesus without it being too much trouble. We want being a Christian to improve our self-esteem and make us better and more effective family members. We want our faith and commitment to Christ and the church to bring us more success in life and work. The problem is we want all that without the self-denial, and self-sacrifice and the spiritual submission of self to God that goes with it.
Often, we tend to be like Peter; we want to follow Jesus without it being too much trouble.
Without the cross, there is no Christianity. Without both the cross of Christ and the cross of a Christian, we are reduced to a pleasant religious and philosophical society that meets every Sunday to sing hymns, listen to a nice talk, take part in a symbolic meal, and go home feeling better about ourselves.
With the cross
But with the cross, we are a saved and redeemed people, called to follow Jesus in giving our all for the betterment of the world.
With the cross, we are God’s holy people, stepping out in faith to follow God into the trenches of the world’s struggle with sin, death and the devil.
With the cross, we are a royal priesthood, going forth into the unknown future with a mission and a ministry to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bind up the broken-hearted, soothe the suffering, and heal the halt and the lame.
With the cross, we have a divine mandate to stand against the powers that be on behalf of the poor and needy, to speak out against injustice and oppression wherever we see it and know it to exist.
With the cross, we dare to lose our life in the cause of Christ.
And with the cross we, like Jesus, find our real lives, the lives for which God created us, the lives we have been invited to embrace since we were baptized—lives of loving God and serving our neighbor.
Amen and amen.
